Sanitary drinking-cup.



M. L. NEPF.

SANITARY DRINKING 0UP. I. APPLICATION FILED MAY 15I 1911. 1,002,537.Patented Sept. 5 1911.

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M. L. NEFFJ SANITARY-DRINKING 0UP. APPLIOATION FILED MAY 16. 11:11.

Patented Sept. 5, 191,1.

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M. L. NEPP.

SANITARY DRINKING CUP.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15, 1911.

1,002,537, I Patented Sept. 5,1911.

3SHEETSSHEET 3.

1 a I F I 1 II/ 32 33* I g I I l 0 l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARY LAWSON NEFF, OF NEW YORK, N. 'Y.

SANITARY DRINKING-CUP.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 1911.

Continuation in part of application filed April 20, 1911, Serial No.622,323. This application filed May 15,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARY LAwsoN NEFF,

a citizen of the United States, and a resi- The object of the presentinvention is to produce a simple, cheap and convenient form of sanitarydrinking cup which 18 1n-' tended to be used once and then thrown away.Such sanitary drinking cups are particularly adapted for distributionfrom automatic vending machines placed near public drinking fountains.

My improved sanitary drinking cup is formed of a single blank ofsuitable material folded upon itself in such manner as to form adouble-walled body with integral ears presented in convenient positionto serve as a handle for the cupand by which the cup is retained inshape for use. The blank from which the cup is made is preferably ofsuch size and shape that it can first be folded upon its longestdiameter to produce a double-walled body with edge flaps projecting fromthe body walls, so that upon folding the opposite wings of thedouble-walled body inwardly toward each other and then bending theextreme ends of said wings outwardly into handle ears, the said flapscan be bent downwardly upon the front and rear walls of the cup body toform a sanitary drinking edge for the front wall and a strengthening andretaining edge for the rear wall. The flap which is bent down upon therear wall of the cup body is centrally divided to fit upon oppositesides of the integral handle cars so that in taking the cup between thethumb and first finger, these sections of the 'rear edging flap can bepinched at their corners against the handle ears with the result thatthe cup will be automatically sprung open in readiness to be filled withwater. The 'flap which is turned down upon the front wall of thedrinking cup forms a smooth folded drinking edge for the cup whichcannot possibly injure the lips, and since the cup is auto- Serial No.627,139.

matically opened in the manner explained, this drinking edge need not betouched with the fingers so that its sanitary condition can beabsolutely insured. Aside from the downwardly folded front and rearflaps affording smooth edges to the walls of the cup, they serve tomaterially strengthen the cup by reason of the extra thickness of thematerial.

In the preferred form of my improved drlnking cup, the oppositelyextending wings of the once folded blankare folded inwardly upon thebody on lines inclined outwardly from the bottom, so as to produce a cupwith outwardly flaring edges and with the open top 'of the cup ofgreater width than the closed bottom. This form of the cup is preferrednot only because of the greater capacity of cup from a given size blank,but also because the cup in this form is more convenient to manipulate.While, however, the preferred form of cup has the peculiarities noted, Iwould have it understood that my invention in its simplest form includesessentially only the double-walled body having the integral inwardlyfolded wings with out-turned ends to constitute a handle for the cup.

In order that my invention may be fully understood,- I will firstdescribe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings, andafterward point outthe novelty more particularly in the annexed claims.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective View illustrating thepreferred form of my improved sanitary drinking cup in position for use.Fig. 2 is a plan view of a cut blank from which the form of cup shown inFig. 1 is produced, the folding lines being indicated by dotted lines.Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 illustrate the successive stages of folding theblank of Fig. 2 into the completed cup shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a planview of a modified form of blank for producing a simpler form of cupembodying my invention, the folding lines being indicated by dbttedlines. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a completely folded cup producedfrom the form of blank shown in Fig. 7.

, This blank is approximately square, with 7 two. f its diagonallyopposite corners trimmed off, one in a; straight line as shown at 2,andthe other rounded off as shown at 3. These trimmed ofl' portions ofthe blank constitute the flaps for ,the front and rear walls of thecupby foldingthem u on the lines 7 and 8 respectively as hereina ter morefully explained. The rear wall flap is centrally cut on the line 5between the edge '2 and the folding line 7 to form flap sections a anda.

In formingthe cup, the blank 1 is first folded upon its longest diameterindicated by'the dotted line 6, to produce a doublewalled or once foldedblank as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. In this once folded conditionof the blank, the flap fold lines 7 fold line .6 to the end of the flapfold lines 7 and'8- will-be coincident and the front wall flap 4 willproject beyond the rear Wall flap (1, a. The triangular end wing ABC ofthe once folded or double-walled blank is then folded inwardly upon thebody on the line 9 which flares outwardly from the bottom and 8. Therear wall flap section a is then bent downwardly on line 7 upon theinfolded wing ABC to place the partly folded blank in the form shown inFig. 4 of the drawings, The opposite end wing DEF is then foldedinwardly upon the doublewalledbody on the line 10 flarin outwardly fromthe bottomfold line 6 to t e flap fold "lines 7 and'8 and the secondrear wall. flap section a is bent over into engagement with said foldedwing DEF. The extreme ends 6 and b of wings ABC and DEF are then bentoutwardly upon the .lines 11 which in fingers,- as shown in Fig. 1 ofthe drawings.

V openin readiness to be filled'with water, andstep in completing thecup is in folding down the front wall flap 4 uponthe .front wall of thefolded cup as shown in Fig. 6.

.The completely folded cup produced as "described is presented to theperson in folded flat form and is grasped with the handle ears I), bfand the adjacent; corners of the flapv sections a, a between the thumband A slight pressure upon the corners of flap sectlons a, a will causethe cup to be'sprung when so filled, the cup, held as described,

can be'conveniently supported and placed to the'lips with the foldededge of thefront ,wall making'a smooth and convenient drinking edge.Since the cup is opened automaticallywhen it is picked up as described,it-is unnecessary for a person to' touch the drink- 'in'g edge of thecup sothat the sanitary con ditlonof the drinking'edge is maintained.

- be made of any suitable material, prefer to make it of asuitable-water-proofed In Figs. 7 and .8 I have shown the simplest formin which my improved drinking cup-j maybe made, embodying all of theessential features of my invention. In this form of cup. I take arectangularblank such as 25, havingoblong flaps 26 and'27 projectingcentrally from its 0 posite sides. The flap 26 is designed to be olde'don the dotted line 26 while the flap 27 is designed to be folded on thedotted line 27?. The flap 27 is centrally divided by a slit 28. Theblank is first folded upon the central longitudinal line 30,

then the opposite double-walled end wings are folded inwardly on thelines 31 and 32 and the extreme ends of these wings are folded outwardlyupon the lines 33 and 34. These outwardly folded extreme ends constituterectangular handle ears 35 and 36, each ofwhich is of a double thicknessof material. The divided rear wall flap 27 is then folded down over theinwardly folded double end wings upon opposite sides of the outwardlypresented ears or handles 35 and 36 and the front wall flap 26 is thenfolded downwardly upon the front wall of the folded cup to complete thesame. Thecup thus produced is approximately square in shape, with theside edges extending at right an le's to the bottom edge. This cupembodies the essential features of my invention and will operate in thesame manner as described with reference to the preferred form in whichthe cup has a flaring cup body, but because of the rectangular form ofthis modified form of the cup, it is not so convenient or satisfactoryto manipulate.

'My improved folded sanitary drinking cups can be conveniently packed ina relatively small space until used. They can be readily handled in anautomatic vending machine, they being substantially flat in shape when"collapsed and requiring a minimum amount of room to accommodate them.The improved cup is simple and-cheap to manufacture, very convenient touseand absolutely sanitary because of the facility for handling itwithout the necessity of placing the fingers upon the drinking edge ofthe cup. The downturned flaps for the front and rear walls of the cup doaway with the objectionable sharp edges of the cut blank, theystrengthen the cup, and in the case of the flap for the rear wall, serveas a means for automatically opening the cup to receive water by the actof taking hold of the handle ears.

My improved sanitary drinking cup) may ut I paper such as wax paper. Theimproved cup does not require adhesive or. other fastening means forholding it in shape for use, since the described folded formationinsures the retention of the cup in proper shape to be filled and usedwhen it is grasped by the handle ears. The absence of adhesive isimportant from both the manufacturing and sanitary standpoints.

So far as I am aware, Iam the-first to produce a folding cup made of asingle blank of material folded upon itself and with its oppositedouble-walled wings folded inwardly upon the body portion and the endsof said infolded wings bent outwardly to constitute a handle. So far asI am aware, I am also the first to construct a folding cup with theedges formed by downwardly folded flaps upon the front and rear walls,or a cup with an integral handle and a split rear wall flap cooperatingwith the handle and serving as a means for automatically opening thecup. I desire to claim these features in a broad sense.

I would have it understood that in the formation of the improved cup,the angle upon which the end wings are folded in upon the body may bevaried for changing the shape of the cup, and that the handle ears maybe variously shaped by slightly changing the shape of the extreme endsof the double-walled wings. These minor details are not material to thescope of my invention. In the manufacture of the cup, the lines of foldmay be scored to facilitate the folding operations.

What I claim is:

1. A drinking cup made of. a single piece of material folded upon itselfto form a double-walled body, and having its oppositely projectingdouble-walled wings folded inwardly upon the body and bent outwardly attheir ends to constitute a handle.

2. A drinking cup made of a single piece of material folded upon itselfto form a double-walled body and having its oppo- 'sitely projectingdouble-Walled win s folded clined outwardly from the bottom to form aflaring cup and the ends of said wings bent outwardly from the body uponlines approximately at right angles to the bottom to form a handle.

3. A drinking cup comprising an elongated blank folded longitudinallyupon itself to form a double-walled body having oppositely projectingdouble-walled wings, and integral flaps extending respectively from thefront and rear walls, said doublewalled wings being folded inwardly uponthe body portion and having their ends bent outwardly from the bodyportion to constitute handle ears, and the end flaps being bentdownwardly upon the front and rear walls respectively of the bodyportion, the flap of the rear wall being split to rest upon oppositesides of said handle ears, substantially as set forth.

4. A drinking cup of the character described, formed of a substantiallysquare blank folded diagonally upon itself, and the opposite triangularbase Wings folded inwardly toward each other with the extreme ends 6, bfolded outwardly to form a handle for the cup, whereby the foldingedgesof said extreme ends I), b will be parallel and adjacent to each other,the remaining top portion a, a of the diagonally folded blank beingsplit' intermediate the ends of and at right angles to its edge and eachhalf being folded over the inwardly folded base wing adjacent to it.

7 MARY LAWSON NEFF.

Witnesses:

WM. E. KNIGHT, M. G. CRAWFORD.

